language

Question 1

arbitrary

Answer 1

based on random choice rather than any reason or system

-how a word sounds has nothing to do with what it means

Question 2

whorf- sapir hypothesis

Answer 2

language influences our thoughts and the way we perceive and experience the world

Question 3

the structure of language

Answer 3

• morpheme- the smallest unit of sound that contains information, often a word
• we can break morphemes into phonemes (when they are combined they make up sound) e.g. dog has 3 d, o, g
• syntax= the rules that govern how language is put together e.g. French assigns gender to their objects
• semantics=refers to the meaning of each individual word

Question 4

development and segmentation problem

Answer 4

language explosion= 1 1/2- 6yrs. vocabulary increases rapidly
-perception that a person speaking a different language sounds like they are speaking fast

Question 5

universal phonetic sensitivity

Answer 5

• ability of infants to discriminate between sounds they’re tested on; including sounds from non native languages-adults can not
• by end of first year infants lost most of the ability

Question 6

theories of language development

Answer 6

• children learn language through imitation and operant conditioning
• overextension= when children apply a rule too broadly e.g. child learns the word doggie may call any 4 legged animal doggie
• underextension= when children apply a rule to a specific object only e.g. child may use word doggie to refer to her dog specifically and no other dog
• LAD (language acquisition theory) chomsky argued language develops rapidly due to an innate mechanism, all languages follow certain fundamental underlying rules e.g. deaf children learning sign language

Question 7

why do we swear

Answer 7

-it imposes dominance over someone

Question 8

the supernatural

Answer 8

-e.g. hell, more powerful in religious societies,emotions of awe and fear

Question 9

body effluvia and organs

Answer 9

-e.g. shit, piss, effluvia are major vectors of disease and they evoke emotions of disgust

Question 10

sexuality

Answer 10

-e.g. fuck, dick, are the most popular type of swearing

Question 11

development and segmentation problem

Answer 11

12wks -makes cooing sounds 
16wks- turns head towards voices
6months- imitates sounds 
1 yr- babbles
2yrs- 50-250 words; 2 phrases 
2.5 yrs- 850 words

Question 12

language explosion

Answer 12

1 1/2- 6yrs vocabulary increases rapidly and most children have mastered major aspects of language
-perception that a person speaking an unfamiliar language sounds like they are speaking quickly, illusion caused by difficulty of segmenting speech stream into word units

Question 13

what sets language apart

Answer 13

1. symbolic
   - words and gestures allow for communication of abstract and hypothetical concepts as well as ideas, things etc that are not present
2. arbitrary associations
   - allow various languages to use different sounds to label the same item
   - onomatpoeia: word whose sounds are associated with their meanings
3. productive
   - language is designed to use a small number of components to produce and understand a wide range of symbols
   - phonemes are the smallest units of sound in language
4. rule governed
   - with each language, rules about what makes sense still exist despite the productive nature of language
   e. .g in English “I” is allows to follow “B” but in Czech “K” is allowed to follow “D” which we would never see in English

Question 14

universal phoneme sensitivity

Answer 14

• within the first year of life infants are able to discriminate between the phonemes of all languages, measured by the CONDITIONED HEAD TURN PROCEDURE
• PERCEPTUAL NARROWING, the loss of universal phoneme sensitivity, occurs when individuals begin to specialize in a certain language and suggested that it is somewhat inherent by shaped by early experiences such as INFANT DIRECTED SPEECH
• the universal phonemic sensitivity is lost during the first year of life
• foreign accent syndrome (FAS) occurs when someone typically suffered from a stroke or head injury that damaged areas in the left hemisphere, when they regain speech, they still speak their native language but with a foreign accent
• early language skills= -the still face procedure demonstrates understanding of expectations of face-to-face social interaction
• pragmatics, the understanding and use of appropriate communication, develops through controversial cooing and vocalizing with parents
• cooing and babbling represent precursors for rapid vocabulary growth
• receptive and expressive vocabulary =
• expressive vocab refers to spoken words used to express languages
• receptive words refers to the understanding of more complex words and expressions by children that they are not yet able to use
• receptive develops before expressive

Question 15

theories of language development

Answer 15

social learning=
-suggest language abilities are acquired through imitation and operant conditioning
innate mechanism theory=
-chomsky suggested that the existence of a language acquisition device and basic universal rules for all languages, support comes from the spontaneous development of sign language in deaf children
interactionist theories=
-nature or nurture is insufficient, both are needed to explain language
-children’s experiences and experimentation with language, individuals a that already use language, combined with brain maturation= language abilities